Disney bought Lucasfilm for $4 billion in 2012 and to date has approached the Star Wars fictional universe in the most cautious way possible. The film trilogy was a kind of remix of the original trilogy structured around the galactic dynasties that we already knew.
Obi-Wan Kenobi, Solo, Ahsoka or The Book of Boba Fett directly fill gaps in the biographies of memorable characters and the rest of the series move around historical events that we already knew about that galaxy far, far away. With Star Wars: The Acolyte this conservative philosophy in exploring and developing George Lucas’ fictional universe could be over. What do we know about the imminent release project?
An investigation into a shocking crime spree pits a respected Jedi master against a dangerous warrior from his past. As more clues emerge, they embark on a dark path where sinister forces reveal that not everything is as it seems. The interest lies not so much in the brief synopsis as in the context it seeks to express: the era of the High Republic only addressed in the Star Wars comics and never in film or television.
To make it clear, The Acolyte will be set a century before The Phantom Menace, so you shouldn’t expect the return of familiar faces. Of the characters known to the most die-hard fans, only Vernestra Rwoh can be seen, present in the Star Wars literary material, who at the age of 15 already had the status of Jedi Knight due to his mastery of the Force.
The first striking element is the name of the creator: the American Leslye Headland, who made a name for herself as a cult creator with Russian Doll, the Netflix series she made with Natasha Lyonne and Amy Poehler. The screenwriter, who trained on Terriers, has also worked as a director and producer on Single Drunk Female or the remake of Heathers.
The writing team includes former collaborators such as Jason Micallef (Heathers) and Jocelyn Bioh (Russian Doll); Jasmyne Flournoy and Cameron Squires, from Marvel with their works in Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Scarlet Witch and Vision respectively; Eileen Shim and Charmaine DeGraté from House of the Dragon; Kor Adana, known for Mr Robot and who is also in the writers’ room for Dune: The Prophecy; Claire Kiechel of The OA and Damon Lindelof’s Watchmen adaptation; and, finally, Jen Richards, Emmy-nominated for her Her Story, and also known for her acting work in Mrs. Fletcher, Better Things, and The Mayfair Witches.
Headland, who directs the first episode to lay the visual foundation for The Acolyte, will be accompanied in the direction by Kogonada (Pachinko), Alex García López (Cowboy Bebop) and a television veteran such as Hanelle Culpepper, who has directing credits in titles like Grim, The Flash, Parenthood or the Star Trek franchise.
It cannot be said that Leslye Headland has not been able to assemble an interesting cast. Amandla Stenberg (Bodies Bodies Bodies), the Spanish-British Dafne Keen (Logan, His Dark Materials) and Dean Charles-Chapman (King Tommen from Game of Thrones) are the youngest faces.
On the more adult side, the Korean actor Lee Jung-jae who won the Emmy for The Squid Game, Manny Jacinto who made a name for himself with The Good Place and Nine Perfect Strangers, the model Jodie Turner-Smith who caught the attention of the public with Anne Boleyn or the science fiction muse Carrie-Anne Moss after her role as Trinity in The Matrix.
The arrival of the trailer, however, was accompanied by a portion of strong criticism from a sector of fans: negative opinions on YouTube exceeded positive ones in the first hours on the platform.
While there were those who argued that the hatred was due to the tone of the preview, lighter and for all audiences than expected, it should not be ruled out that it is a racial issue: a sector of the public was outraged at the racial diversity of the cast .
It is not the first time that the Star Wars fandom shows its most reactionary and racist side. Moses Ingram, who was the villain of Obi-Wan Kenobi, suffered the wrath of a sector of the public, who dedicated one racist message after another to her, to which she responded by sharing the hate and receiving support from the Hollywood community.
“Moses is a brilliant actress, she is a brilliant woman and she is absolutely incredible in this series. I just want to say as the lead actor on the show, as the executive producer of the show, that we support Moses. We love Moses and if you’re sending him bullying messages, you’re not a Star Wars fan in my opinion. There is no place for racism in this world,” Ewan McGregor had to share when seeing the campaign against his partner.
On Wednesday, June 5, we will clear up doubts with the premiere of the first two episodes of the first season on Disney. The remainder of the eight-episode season will be watched at the rate of one episode per week. What project will follow? Skeleton Crew of the tandem formed by Jon Watts and Christopher Ford, authors of Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, who want to resurrect the spirit of titles like The Goonies or E.T. from Amblin Entertainment, and which should be released this very 2024, before the second part of Andor, which is scheduled for 2025.